


The Disconnect

by WordCollector



Series: Disconnected [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-10 13:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3292496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordCollector/pseuds/WordCollector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve leads a SHIELD Team that is bent on destroying Hydra. When a mission goes badly, Steve and Bucky escape into the countryside. </p><p>They used to be best friends, inseparable. Now, they have a hard time tolerating each other. Can Steve get them back on track? Or, would it be better for both of them to let things go?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Flames roared from the brick building’s windows as Steve raced across the rooftop. He slid on the wet slate as he scrambled to escape before the building collapsed. Preparing to jump three stories to the ground below, he lifted the shield into the air, pushed off, and the roof gave way beneath his feet. Quickly catching the edge of the roof in one hand, he scrambled to stay above the flames. His shield fell as he swung his other hand up to grab at the roof tiles. Thick black smoke poured from the opening, and he choked as the hot smoky air burned his lungs. 

Through the smoke, a hand reached out and grabbed the back of his uniform, hauling him onto the rooftop. Steve looked up and made out Bucky’s masked face. Suddenly, Bucky backhanded Steve. He threw Steve over his shoulder, and jumped. Steve was dazed but still conscious, as Bucky hauled him into a big black SUV. Steve coughed trying to catch his breath. He stared at Bucky while he drove, speeding away from the burning building. Bucky swerved from the direction of the sirens. They drove over curbs and grass, trying to avoid the approach of emergency vehicles. The sirens faded away as Bucky raced down the street. When he came to a more traveled road, his driving slowed, and he fell into the flow of traffic.

The rest of the assault team would be half way back to base by now. Once they knew they were losing, Hydra had given the self destruct order and their agents had fled. When the initial explosions detonated, Steve gave the order that his team should get out and return to base. Thinking there might have been another hostage, Steve went back inside. The search turned up nothing. When he finally tried to get out, his path to the last quinjet had been blocked by flames. Steve radioed the remaining qiunjet to go. He would find his own way back. Lucky for Steve, Bucky didn’t always follow his orders.

After a few miles of silence, Steve said “Thanks for the hand back there.” He coughed again. His throat was sore from the smoke.

Bucky just glanced over and kept driving. The mask hiding his lower face covered his expression, but Steve didn’t think there would be much change anyways. Bucky was all business when on a mission. Sometimes he fell back on old Winter Soldier techniques. The backhand was new. Steve wasn’t sure he should bring it up. Did the Winter Soldier backhand HYDRA agents that needed to be rescued? Winter Soldier wasn’t usually used for rescues, Steve saw that in his file. The Winter Soldier was always brought out for a specific purpose, usually planned months, if not years in advance. 

Steve pondered the blow and felt his jaw. He knew there wouldn’t be a bruise, but it stung. He was watching Bucky drive, thinking about how to bring up the blow.

Once they hit a deserted country road, Bucky floored it, and the speed of the vehicle had Steve bracing against any jolts or bumps. While they drove a large piece of the Explorer fell off, and spun away into the dark ditch. Steve hoped it wasn’t anything important. He kept watching behind them, and didn’t see anyone following. There was just darkness behind, and the occasional farm house in the distance. 

Steve shook his head, as glanced over at Bucky. He couldn’t tell what Bucky was thinking under the mask. Steve hated the mask, but Bucky always wore it on missions. He insisted mission came first, and Steve couldn’t deny it was useful. It’s filter had probably allowed Bucky to breathe in the burning building much easier than Steve had.

They sped along for over a half hour, and the farmhouses became more spaced out. The moon was a thin crescent and didn’t provide much light. Beside the road, the farms were great voids of black space, and the stars were bright in the crisp night. Occasionally, stretches of thick trees blocked the stars. 

Steve saw the deer before Bucky did. He shouted a warning, but they were moving too fast. The SUV swerved around the first deer, but stayed on the road. As Bucky glanced in his rearview mirror, three more were on the right. One made a dash across, and Bucky attempted to swerve left again. The left tires caught in the gravel and he over corrected, slamming the truck into the trees on the right. The SUV slammed into a large tree, and momentum spun them into the thick roadside copse of trees. A thin strapping snapped and the truck flipped. They rolled over a half dozen times before they came to rest on their side. 

The SUV had shed parts as it disintegrated around them. Once the vehicle stopped there wasn’t much left. The smoking shell, deep in the wood line left a trail of debris, like the tail of a comet back towards the initial impact. Steve found himself hanging suspended in the seatbelt. He looked out the gaping windshield and couldn’t see much. The engine was smoking, but it was no longer in front of the windshield. A tire fell out of a bush to the left as things settled around them. Everything seemed eerily quiet, except for the occasional pops and rustles that came from the wreckage behind him.

Looking down, Steve tried to get to Bucky who was still in the driver seat eyes closed, and unmoving. There was a bloody gash across his temple, possibly from one of the tree branches, which now littered the inside of the SUV. Steve carefully released his belt, trying not to drop onto Bucky, then edged himself down. Unable to assess Bucky’s injuries, Steve was afraid to move him. 

Gently, he reached out and touched Bucky’s shoulder “Hey, Hey Buck. Wake up. Come on, We need to get moving.” He checked as much of Bucky as he could see in the dark.

Steve heard parts of the vehicle pop and hiss, small flames flickered around them. Beginning to worry the gas tank might explode, he sped up his pace. 

Reaching out to Bucky’s seatbelt, he popped the latch, holding Bucky as he slumped down the few inches to the crumpled door. Steve tipped Bucky up and put his arms around his back like a hug, cradling his head. He slowly and carefully stood, dragging Bucky up. He ducked and stepped through the gaping hole where the windshield was. 

Steve moved Bucky toward a clearing in the woods, the moon providing a dim sliver of light. Enough for Steve to try to take stock of Bucky’s injuries. He was able to see that Bucky’s left shin was broken. The leg would have to be set. Even a super soldier needed to have the bones line up correctly before healing could begin. Actually, a super solder needed the bones to be set quickly, before they tried to knit back together, bent and twisted.

The black body armor and mask made it hard to asses his injuries. Steve hoped it prevented injuries, but he had to check. Carefully he pulled the mask from Bucky and saw that his nose had bled, covering his chin and cheek with thick dark blood. It looked like it had already stopped. 

Unbuckling the clasps holding the body armor closed, Steve opened up the jacket. He slid his hands down Bucky’s ribs but everything felt intact, and there wasn’t any noticeable bruising. He felt Bucky’s right leg but that also felt fine. Steve stood and found a couple of straight sticks, he used first-aid kit from Bucky’s belt pouch, then set the left leg. Steve felt the knot of worry get bigger when Bucky didn’t come around when he set his leg. The air was cold and Steve hastily fastened the front of Bucky’s jacket. 

He walked back out to the road and looked both ways. He sprinted in the same direction they were headed, but after a five minute sprint, he didn’t see any break in the forest. If anything, it became thicker. The last farmhouse they passed was quite a ways back.

He sprinted back to Bucky, who still hadn’t moved. Lifting Bucky, Steve carried him through the woods towards the last farmhouse they passed. He tried not to bump Bucky’s leg into any branches as he worked his way through the dense dark forest. The forest slowed him down, but Steve was glad for the cover it provided. As he stepped out into the dry winter field he realized how exposed he would be. He skirted the woods as far as he could, but eventually he had to cover the open ground. Steve doubled his pace across the open ground. After coming over a small rise, he could see the farm up ahead. 

A single story white house with four smaller buildings and a big barn sat in a field. Steve could tell one small building was a chicken coop, but he had no idea what the other buildings were for. As he approached the barn he could hear animals inside. He passed it, and went inside a barn shaped building. Inside was a rusted older tractor, a few canoes, and a bunch of junk. In the back there were stairs to the second floor. Steve carried Bucky upstairs, lying him on the cold plywood floor. 

It had been over an hour since Bucky had moved, and Steve ached to go inside and dial for help. This was a SHIELD mission, even though SHIELD was no longer an authorized government agency. He knew contacting the remnants of SHIELD wouldn’t be easy without the proper equipment. His SHIELD communication unit was lost in the fight at the HYDRA base. Steve could call Tony, but he was being investigated by congress again. There were other Avengers, but getting in touch with them was always tricky. 

Steve rummaged through some boxes and found a tarp. Making the tarp into a mat on the floor, he then moved Bucky on top. Soon, he found a couple old quilts that had seen better days. He shook the mouse nest out of one, then covered Bucky with both.

Steve was rummaging boxes, holding an old beach towel and looking for more things to keep them warm. He closed a box of tractor parts, turned, and saw that Bucky was sitting up. Bucky had the blankets off, and was checking his leg. He looked annoyed. The splint must have met his approval, because he didn’t rebind it. Looking at the room around him, Bucky stood on his good leg. 

“How far are we from an extraction point?” Bucky asked while hopping over to a window to look out. 

“We were at least forty miles.” Steve answered.

“Did you make us backtrack?” He asked. His eyes squinted and he looked annoyed.

“We needed somewhere to regroup and recover.” Steve said.

Bucky scowled out the window “Why couldn’t we recover somewhere moving forward?”

“I checked that way. It was just woods, and I was carrying an unconscious jerk.” Steve said crossing his arms. “I’m fine by the way.”

Bucky acted like he didn’t hear Steve “You still have the drives?”

Steve wanted to act like a jerk and say ‘No, I left them in the wreckage of the car’ but he panicked a little. He pat his pocket subtly hoping they weren’t smashed. He could feel that they were intact and smiled.

“All three?” Bucky asked.

Steve stopped smiling “You’re just being an ass, there were only two.” 

Bucky shrugged, still looking out the window.

Steve continued. “Speaking of being an ass, what’s with the backhand on the roof?”

Bucky looked up at that. “You have a hard head.” he said. “I was trying to knock you out.”

Steve moved into Bucky’s space. He growled “What the hell?”

In the dark, Bucky looked ominous. The dried blood looked black on his upper lip and chin. He glared at Steve for a moment. They remained toe to toe, neither willing to give an inch. “I didn’t want you doing something stupid, like going back for the shield.” Bucky said slowly.

Steve glowered “That wouldn’t have been stupid. Leaving my shield there was stupid.”

Bucky didn’t rise to the bait. He coldly said “Did you want to jump into the flames to get it? Or, did you want to wait as they put the fire out, and ask them for it back?” 

They stared at each other for a minute before Steve looked away. He and Bucky didn’t argue safely anymore. Bucky was willing to come to blows over any slight. Steve knew he had to be the one to back down, because Bucky wouldn’t. He wondered if when they were young, Bucky backed down because he didn’t want to hurt Steve, and now, Steve was fair game. Steve however, was more convinced that this new improved Bucky didn’t back down from anybody. Except on the few occasions that he did, and that confused Steve with how completely Bucky differed to certain people. That list did not include Steve. If anything, since they found him, Bucky bristled more often at Steve than anybody.

Steve was mad about leaving the shield, but he logically knew there was no way to safely get it. It would be ridiculous to start a fight about it here. Steve would discuss the blow when they were back somewhere safe.

Bucky hopped back over to his makeshift bed and pulled it over into a corner, not satisfied with Steve’s location. He sat on the tarp, then shook out the blankets, glancing over to Steve. He threw one at Steve, who caught it, and wrapped it over his shoulders. 

Steve sat in front of Bucky “We’ll stay here till you can move. It doesn’t look like they come up here often, judging from the layer of dust. Hopefully they wont need any of this junk for the next few days.”

Bucky wrapped his quilt over his shoulders too. He looked at Steve “I’ll be able to travel by tomorrow night.”

Steve looked skeptical “Is that without damaging your leg?”

Bucky thought about it for a minute “Day and a half possibly, but that would put us moving out in two days, if we want the cover of darkness.”

Steve nodded “We move out in two days. You don’t have any working com units do you? I dropped mine in the fire.”

Bucky frowned and stared at Steve “What didn’t you drop into the fire?”

Steve smirked “Ha. Ha. Funny Man.” he said annoyed “Do you have your comms or not?”

Bucky patted his pocket “I think all this crumbly sharp stuff in this pouch is what’s left of mine. They shouldn‘t have switched to these stupid new things. Too flimsy.”

Bucky frowned. “There is the possibility that yours still worked.”

“Did you want to go back for it?” Steve asked “I think you could hop back. I bet the fire will be out by the time you get there.”

Bucky leaned forward and growled “Are you trying to bait me? Do you want to fight? I was trying to tell you that we should get word back that YOUR com unit is possibly in HYDRA hands.” Bucky looked angry, he rubbed at his chin and his hand came away with dried blood on it. He looked surprised at the blood and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “They probably have a phone in the house. You could sneak in when the owner goes out. Give em the code that we’re compromised.”

“If we use a non secure line, we risk giving away our location. You aren‘t up for a fight.” Steve reminded Bucky.

Bucky ignored the comment “How far off the road was the wreck. How long do you think it’ll be before the local cops find it? Morning?” Bucky asked.

Steve thought about the question. “Well, that depends on how closely anyone is looking. The truck pretty much disintegrated. There was some tree damage, and skid marks on the road, but the truck was just a pile of parts about fifty feet into the trees. I bet people could drive past it, and never see it.”

“That works for us.” Bucky nodded.

Steve smiled “It’s a good thing you are an expert at completely destroying a car.”

Bucky frowned again. “Gimme the towel on your shoulder.”

Steve forgot it was on there. He handed it to Bucky who started to rub at his chin. Standing, Steve said “Hold on a minute, let me get some water so you can get the blood off your face. You look like an extra in a horror movie.”

There was a set of mixing bowls in one of the boxes that Steve had opened earlier. He pulled out the big bowl, and headed down the stairs. He snuck to the spigot by the chicken coop, and got some water. Once back inside, Bucky was able to wash most of the blood off of his face. 

Soon they had settled back into silence. Steve took first watch, and allowed Bucky to sleep for a while. He let Bucky sleep longer than they agreed on and Bucky woke surly. Steve couldn’t tell if Bucky thought he was codling him or, if he thought Steve was being negligent and dozed off.

During Bucky’s shift, Steve woke when the rooster began to crow. Annoyed, Steve grumbled “I thought they waited for dawn.”

“Shhh” Bucky scowled, giving the hand sign for one person outside. “Farmer is up.” he whispered pointing.

Pulling the blanket over his head, Steve tried to go back to sleep. He eventually slept through the noisy rooster. Bucky also took a longer shift, letting Steve sleep longer than scheduled. When Steve woke up, he whispered “Need me to take watch?”

Bucky immediately shook his head, no. He pointed to the farmer right outside the building they were in.

Steve took a big breath “Crap” he whispered.

“Shit” Bucky grumbled.

“Huh?” Steve whispered back.

“There’s a dog.” He whispered. “It knows we’re here.”

Steve moved to the window, and could see the dog sniffing the door they came through. It was a large white mutt with brown spots, and it was preoccupied with the big barn door. The door was closed, and they both stared out of a crack in the old wood siding, praying the farmer wouldn’t notice. They stayed clear of the window now, incase the farmer looked up in the early dawn light.

Soon, Bucky was dozing, and Steve keeping watch. Eventually the farmer got into his pickup, and after some cajoling, got the dog to come with him. They drove down the dirt road away from the house. 

An hour later they heard the pickup come back, and watched the farmer go back into the house. 

The farm was full of animal noises, but boring. There was clucking, mooing and a few noises Steve couldn’t identify from his limited view. Eventually Bucky fell asleep again. Steve stared at the chickens as they pecked and walked their fenced in area. He couldn’t see the barn, or field with the cows from where he was sitting. He could see the side of the house, the chickens, and the red pickup truck parked next to the house.

While Bucky slept, Steve heard the front door of the farmhouse open and close. He saw the farmer go put something into the truck, and the dog return to sniff the barn door again. The farmer was ignoring the dog as it tried to get through the door, digging at the bottom. 

Before Steve could warn Bucky, the farmer went up and opened the barn door. The dog was up the stairs in a flash. It happened so suddenly that the dog was just there, hackles raised, growling and barking at Steve and Bucky.

Bucky startled awake. He shoved himself back into the corner, and pulled his automatic. 

Steve quickly moved between Bucky and the dog. When he looked up, there was the farmer with a shotgun aimed at them.


	2. Chapter 2

The farmer aimed his shotgun at them from behind the barking dog. Steve had his hands up. His blue stealth uniform was filthy and streaked in soot. He looked a mess. Directly behind him, Bucky had his sidearm aimed and ready to fire. Steve was blocking his shot. 

When the farmer saw them, he gasped “Good Lord.” and his shotgun sagged. He waved the dog back “No, Benny, no! Behave!” he said, and the dog stopped barking. 

The farmer set the shotgun aside, “You boys been out here all night?” he asked.

Steve smiled and tried to look non threatening. He waved behind him for Bucky to put his gun away. 

“Let’s get you two into the house.” the farmer said, moving closer. He extended his hand to Steve “Ed, Ed Connor. Sir, it is an honor to meet you.” Steve shook his hand and smiled his bashful smile. Ed continued “What kind of world has this become, when Captain America has to hide out in my barn?”

Steve said “We just didn’t want to put you out. We were on a training exercise when my Sergeant here was injured in an accident.” He pointed at Bucky’s splinted leg.

“Let’s get on inside the house, my wife can fix you two some breakfast. You can phone for help.” Ed said. 

Picking up the shotgun, Ed led the way downstairs while Steve helped Bucky. On the way down Bucky whispered into Steve’s ear “Aw shucks, it’s an honor to meet you.” 

“Cut it out.” Steve whispered to Bucky.

Walking towards the house, Ed trotted ahead and began to yell for his wife “Hon, Hon, You‘ll never guess who we’re having to breakfast!”

Bucky leaned into Steve, quickly whispering “You are a terrible liar. Try to keep it simple.” then he pushed Steve away and tried to hop to the house on his own. 

As they approached the steps of the house Bucky mumbled “Just don’t say anything stupid.” Out of habit Steve gave Bucky a light push, and Bucky began to tumble. Quickly, Steve reached out and grabbed him before he fell. Bucky hung in his grip for a second. Bucky looked down at Steve’s hand on his arm, and Steve let go. 

Then, looking Steve right in the eyes Bucky growled “Did you just push me?” 

Steve glanced over at the farmhouse door feet away and laughed loudly “Sorry, I forgot for a second” then under his breath he whispered “Behave.”

Bucky pushed Steve back “You do not get to tell me to ‘Behave’. I am not your dog.”

Steve put his arms out to his side “Fine, you want to act up. Stay outside.”

“You push the guy with a broken leg, and you tell me I’m acting up?” Bucky was raising his voice.

Dropping his arms, Steve said “You have been acting up since we got on this mission. This is why we don’t work together. I can’t say anything without you being pissed off.”

Bucky looked down and shook his head. “You tell me to ‘act normal’. You want me to be the nice guy and smile.” he looked at Steve. “I don’t smile. I shoot, and kill, and blow things up. That’s what I do.” 

Steve looked stunned for a minute, then tightened his jaw, and turned to go into the house. The screen door loudly smacked closed behind him. 

Bucky stood outside for a few minutes, then lowered himself to sit on the steps to the farmhouse. He watched the sky for a while. High white clouds slowly drifted across a pale blue sky. Behind him he heard the door open and a woman came out with a plate of bacon, eggs and toast. She smiled and her eyes went straight to the splint on Bucky’s leg. Glancing at the scab on his temple, she offered “We have a first-aid kit inside.” 

Bucky shrugged “I’m fine, Ma’am.” he said. She nodded and went back inside.

Looking down, Bucky realized his jacket was strapped together crooked. He would bet money he looked worse than Steve, and Steve was a mess. Bucky sighed, and went back to staring at the clouds. 

After an hour, Steve emerged. The plate sat next to Bucky, almost untouched. 

“Let’s hit the road.” Steve said. He had the keys to Ed’s pickup truck.

The pickup was old and full of fur. Bucky’s forehead scrunched up and he frowned. He tried to wipe some of the fur and dirt from the passenger seat with his gloved left hand. Then he wiped his hand on his pants. “Maybe I could drive?” he said.

Steve wanted to laugh but he tried keep his face blank. “Nope. Hop in.” He said, while climbing in the driver seat. 

After pulling himself into the passenger seat, Bucky looked around at the dirt and litter that filled the pickup. Old newspapers and junk mail sat on the floorboards. Bucky tried to push some of it to the side with the toe of his boot. There were muddy dog prints on the door, and nose prints all over the window. Bucky kept frowning and looked like he was trying not to touch anything.

“Don’t like dogs any more?” Steve asked, as he pulled away from the farm. “I thought you used to love dogs.”

“Dogs are fine.” He frowned “This is just hair, dirt and drool. I’m gonna be covered in it.”

Steve smiled “You just totaled an Explorer, and escaped a burning building. No one’s going to notice a little dog fur.”

Bucky shook his head. “Hmpf.” he said then settled back against the seat and closed his eyes.

He didn’t move for the next half hour. Steve could never be sure if he was asleep, or just pretending to. Bucky avoided small talk. Mission only, and even that was just the parts that related to him. He looked bored if they discussed the big picture, and almost always tuned out if they discussed parts of the mission that had no bearing on him. 

Steve had been annoyed by it at first and confronted him about it. Bucky said it was distracting. He needed to focus on his mission, and that alone. Steve didn’t know what to say to that, so he let it go. But, at times like this, when Bucky pretended to sleep, it bugged Steve. He missed talking to Bucky. He knew that after all of the time with HYDRA, Bucky would be different. But that didn’t make him want it any less. 

HYDRA didn’t make another appearance, and it was boring drive to the rendezvous point. Steve was relieved to see a decloaking Quinjet out in the empty field. He parked feet away from the open ramp, gave the keys to a SHIELD agent, and told them to drive carefully. 

Bucky shook his head. “Wouldn’t want to damage this fine ride.” He said sliding from the car seat. He leaned on the truck to hop closer to the Quinjet, and pushed Steve away when he came to lend a hand. He hopped a few steps until he reached the ramp, where a medic came down to help him. He allowed the medic to help him up the ramp.

Steve sat across from them and watched as the medic checked Bucky’s injuries, removed the splint, and scanned the broken leg. Bucky again tipped his head back and closed his eyes. The medic asked a barrage of questions anyways, “Blurred vision?” “Dizziness?” “Headache?” and took notes on his tablet.

Bucky answered “No” to everything, never bothering to open his eyes.

Once they arrived back at base, Steve handed over the drives, and Bucky was hustled off to medical. Steve went to the After Action Report with the team. He and Bucky were the last ones back from the mission, and they had waited on him. Bucky didn’t usually have much to say in the meetings, and he wouldn’t be missed. Steve on the other hand had been the Team Leader. His information about this HYDRA base would be vital toward taking out the next locations. He would get Bucky’s input later, and add it to his written report.

After the AAR, Steve went to medical to check on Bucky. He had already been released back to his quarters and the medic seemed to think he would be fine. The leg was set correctly, and on it’s way to being fully healed. 

Steve asked if Bucky mentioned how long he had been unconscious. The medic looked at him and shook his head “He didn’t even say he had lost consciousness. When I asked, he just shrugged.”

Steve sighed “He was out for about an hour.”

The medic began to annotate it in the file “I’ll take it down. That’s a long time for anyone, let alone him.”

Steve nodded “He didn’t rouse when I set the leg.”

The medic pulled up the recent scan “Well, his internment with HYDRA has made his relationship with pain pretty abnormal. He was out a long time though. That has me concerned.” He made notes next to the scans “We’ll keep an eye out for symptoms of a problem.”

Steve thanked the medic and headed back to his temporary quarters. Once inside, he pulled out a clean change of clothes. He was just going to relax, so he picked out comfortable SHIELD issue solid black sweats. After showering, he settled back and typed up his report from the mission. He needed Bucky’s input for the final draft, and went to find him. 

He knocked at Bucky’s door. Steve wasn’t surprised when no one answered. He gave a couple loud bangs and said “It’s me. Open up.”

Usually, Bucky avoided other Agents, but Steve was beginning to wonder if maybe he had gone to the cafeteria or gym. 

After a few more seconds the door popped open. Bucky then went back inside and dropped down, returning to his one armed pushups. He was barefoot, and still wearing the sweat-stained tank top and pants from their mission.

Walking into the room, Steve asked, “That doesn’t bother the leg?” .

Without stopping Bucky said “It’s in a cast.”

Steve doubted they intended for Bucky to exercise while wearing the temporary Velcro cast. He stepped around Bucky to sit on the bed. The room was like Steve’s, just a little smaller. It had a bed, and a desk with one chair. Bucky was taking up most of the floor and blocking the one chair.

Bucky switched to crunches and Steve asked “Do you have anything for the report?”

“You mentioned losing your shield?” He asked without pausing.

“Yup”

“You mentioned losing your com unit?” He asked speeding up his crunches.

“Yup, and you smashing yours.” Steve answered.

Bucky stopped “In the crash.” He looked at Steve who just stared back “The crash that turned a two ton vehicle into scrap metal.”

Steve blinked “I reported the crash. They’ve already recovered the debris.”

Bucky switched back to pushups “Commo should never be that breakable.”

“Should we add vehicles to that list?” Steve gave a sarcastic smile.

Bucky stopped and stood. Standing a little too close, he stared at Steve for a second, looming over him. Steve didn’t react or break eye contact. After a few seconds, Bucky turned and went into the bathroom. Steve could hear the shower start up, and figured he was done here.

He checked his watch. It was time for lunch. This SHIELD base had a small but nice cafeteria. It wasn’t the greatest food, but Steve was starved. 

While he was heading that way, he met one of the agents who was also on the mission. Steve nodded a greeting “Chesterfield” he said. “Good work back there.”

The bald agent smiled “Thanks, Cap” then he pointed towards the lunchroom “Heading for lunch?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Steve said. A dark haired agent named Smith came up and joined their group.

“Hey, Cap.” Smith greeted him. “Heard Barnes totaled a SUV, Broke the commo, and lost your shield.”

Steve looked surprised “No, I dropped my shield.” 

Both agents groaned. Chesterfield then said “So you only needed to chew out Barnes for two things.”

Steve shook his head “No, neither of those things were actually his fault.” 

Chesterfield added “It’s Okay Cap, we understand if you’re a little rough on him. You gotta keep him in line.”

They approached the door to the cafeteria and Steve stopped. “What?”

Chesterfield looked nervous “Um, since he worked for the Ruskies an HYDRA.” he stammered “That’s why you chew him out a lot.”

Steve looked at Chesterfield then turned to the other agent. “Is that what you think too, Smith?”

Both agents stared at Steve with wide eyes, and Smith stammered “No. Uh,…” He looked over at Chesterfield “Barnes is tough to work with. We all get that. Hydra messed him up, and now you work with what you got.”

Without another word, Steve turned and headed back the way he came. The two agents behind him scurried into the cafeteria. Steve could hear Smith loudly whisper “Jesus, Chesty. Why did you have to bring up Barnes. What are you an idiot? If he wants to give Barnes the riot act all the time, just keep your nose out of it.”

Steve turned into a side hall and leaned back on the wall. He took a breath then leaned forward and put his hands on his knees. He was a jerk. Bucky wasn’t the guy Steve wanted him to be. Instead of helping him, Steve has been taking his frustration out on Bucky. The other agents noticed he chewed Bucky out all the time. What did that mean? How long had this been going on?

Standing straight again, Steve started walking back to his room. His appetite was gone. He had no doubt Smith and Chesty had high tailed it out of the cafeteria as soon as the coast was clear. Even if he had still been hungry, he couldn’t face those guys right now. 

Inside of his room, Steve sat on the bed. He put his hands over his face and leaned back. Before Bucky was cleared for missions, Steve was just so glad to have him back. He didn’t care if Bucky was changed. Just that he was safe. The relief he felt when Bucky was found was overwhelming. The fear and worry had been lifted, and he felt like a balloon, there was nothing to bring him down. But as the days turned to months, Steve came to realize what he had hoped and wished for wasn’t possible. Bucky was different, Steve was different, the world around them was different. They no longer fit together like two puzzle pieces and Steve began to feel resentful. 

He thought back over the last six months since Bucky was cleared to work missions. He wondered how blind he was to how he has been acting. Fury and Coulson must have seen it. Bucky was rarely put on missions with Steve. Bucky rarely interacted with other agents, so Steve assumed it was him. He put the blame on Bucky, because he could rationalize it that way. Bucky was the cold weird guy, who didn’t work well with others. Steve was the hero. 

Everyone loved Steve, except he realized maybe they didn’t. Lately he had been self righteous, and took too many risks on missions, like staying too long inside a burning building. Bucky saved Steve. Who knows how long he had been waiting for Steve to finally try to get out. Steve almost got himself killed, and somehow it was twisted around that Bucky was the guy who messed up the mission. 

Everything was wrong. Steve needed to fix it. He stood up and headed back to Bucky’s room. 

Knocking loudly and firmly, Steve didn’t expect a response. He announced “Hey. It‘s Steve.”

The door opened and Bucky stood in the doorway for a second before going back to sitting on the bed. Steve pulled out the chair from the desk and sat facing Bucky. His hair was wet, his feet were bare, and he was dressed in clean tactical pants and uniform tank top. The Velcro cast was haphazardly strapped back on the outside of his pant leg. Bucky always wore his tactical uniform, even when he worked out.

Steve took a big breath and cleared his throat “It has come to my attention that I’ve been a real jerk to you lately.”

Eyes narrowing, Bucky silently stared at Steve.

Clearing his throat again, Steve added “I just wanted to apologize.”

In a low voice Steve had to strain to hear, Bucky said “Who put you up to this?”

Steve jerked back a little “What do you mean? Why would anybody put me up to this?”

Bucky’s voice raised as he sat forward “Is this some sort of good cop thing so I’ll fall in line?” his hands balled into fists at his side. “I don’t want your fake apology. I’ll complete my missions. Just go.”

Steve stood “No one put me up to this. I just thought I was being unfair, and should apologize.”

Sliding back on the bed, Bucky leaned against the headboard. “You can tell them I won’t turn on SHIELD just because you’re a jerk. Take your apology and go.”

Instead of moving toward the door, Steve stepped closer to Bucky, looming over him. “No one told me to apologize. I’m not reporting back to anybody. I just ..I just..” he didn’t want to say the other agents said I yell at you a lot. He just didn’t know what else to say. “I just.” he deflated a little. “I think I may have had unrealistic expectations and I’m a little resentful that I didn’t get what I hoped to, so I took it out on you.”

Bucky blinked up at him and frowned “That was a mouthful. You spend too much time hanging out with your shrink, your starting to sound like one. If you got that off your chest, you can go now.” he said waving towards the door.

Steve sighed and sagged “Okay. If you want me out, I’ll go.” He said slipping out the door.

On the other side of the door, Steve realized he had seen no sign that Bucky had lunch yet. He immediately headed back to the cafeteria. There were only a few agents left inside. When he entered, the room became silent. Word must travel fast. Grabbing a few wrapped sandwiches and slices of cake, he headed back to Bucky’s room.

He kicked the door gently twice. “Hey Buck, open up.”

Eventually, Steve heard movement inside, and the door cracked open. “You forget something?”

Steve pushed through the door. “You haven’t had lunch yet, right?” Steve said setting the food on the desk.

After closing the door, Bucky hopped back to the bed. “I was just trying to get some rest.”

Steve tossed Bucky a sandwich “And hiding in your room.” He said grabbing a sandwich for himself and opening it up. “Every one knows you hide in your room till the cafeteria clears out, then sneak out and get something.”

Bucky never opened the sandwich. He tossed it aside in the bed “I don’t ‘hide’ and I don’t have to ‘sneak out’ to get myself something to eat.”

Steve had a mouthful of sandwich and made a ‘hmf’ noise. He swallowed then said “That’s not what I heard.”

Scowling Bucky said “Your SHIELD agents conveniently leave when I enter. I don’t have to wait for the room to clear out. It clears out when I go in.”

Steve set his sandwich down. “Really?”

“Well, they all take your lead.”

Steve felt a little sick. He wondered how this all went so wrong. “I” he cleared his throat. “I got you chocolate cake. You don’t remember but your mom used to make the best chocolate cake.” He held out the cake.

Bucky leaned in and took the paper plate. “Did you bring a fork too?”

“Oh, Yeah.” Steve stood and pulled plastic forks from his pants pocket and a wad of napkins from the other side. He passed a fork and napkin to Bucky.

Eating a forkful of cake, Bucky asked “Did my mom also make the best sandwiches?” he said gesturing at the sandwich with his fork.

“Um, no this is a Chicken Panini. Your Mom wouldn’t even know what that was.” Steve said with a shrug.

Bucky frowned again “What does panini mean anyways?” 

“I don’t know, Um sandwich maybe? Or bread?” Steve ventured.

“Bread makes no sense.” Bucky said, finishing his cake. He reached over and picked up each sandwich, checking them, till he found one that he liked. 

Steve raised his eyebrows “Cake before sandwich, huh?”

Bucky didn’t respond, just ate the sandwich and threw the wrapper in the corner near the trash. Steve was certain he did that to bug him, to see if Steve would clean up after him. Steve was not. He kept telling himself not to pick up the wrapper.

Steve looked around for something to talk about, something to say, so that this wasn’t awkward, but he was failing. It was definitely awkward. Suddenly, Steve blurted out “Hey, Where’s your TV?”

Bucky just shrugged. 

Steve looked irritated “All of the rooms come with them. What? Did they just happen to give you a crappy tiny room with no TV?” He stood.

Bucky closed his eyes and took a breath “Hold your horses cowboy.” He opened his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Before you storm off, the room had a TV. I broke the TV.”

Steve deflated “Oh.” he sat back down.

Bucky finished his sandwich and threw the next wrapper into the corner. “Thanks for calling my room crap by the way.”

Steve looked at the floor “Sorry.” he said leaning down and picking up both wrappers, putting them in the trash. When he realized he had cleaned up, he glanced up to where Bucky was watching him. Bucky didn’t smile, he never really did that now, but he wasn’t frowning. 

It was okay, Steve could let him win this one. Steve realized he now thought in terms of Bucky winning or Steve winning. Never Win/Win always Win/Lose. If Bucky won, Steve lost. This realization made him as sad as realizing he had been a jerk to Bucky for the past couple of months. It was like they couldn’t get back on track.

Steve looked around, “We can go out later and get a new TV if you want to.”

Bucky finished the second sandwich. “No” he said around the last mouthful.

“No, you don’t want a TV. Or, No, you don’t want to go get one with me.” Steve said looking at Bucky.

Bucky frowned “Both.”

Steve frowned “Oh.” He got up to leave. He could try this again later. 

Bucky slid down on the bed and lie down. As he rolled onto his side, facing away from Steve he mumbled “You can barely turn your TV on. What do you know about TV’s?”

The next couple of days, Steve spent a lot of time in the gym beating up the punching bag. He was trying to figure out what had gone wrong. The dominos began to fall way before they were sent out on missions. Steve really didn’t like that Fury knew where Bucky was before Steve did. 

Bucky turned himself in to Fury. Almost everyone on the planet thought Fury was dead. But, Bucky sought Nick Fury out to turn himself in. 

Steve had expected Bucky to show up on his doorstep every time he went home. He kept glancing over his shoulder, like Bucky would suddenly just be there. Steve was certain he would find him. But he didn’t, because Bucky was already in SHIELD custody, or whatever was left of SHIELD. Steve spent day after day dragging Sam along on a wild goose chase, while Bucky was being poked, prodded, questioned and assessed. 

By the time Steve was brought in, Bucky was almost ready to be cleared to be sent off for trial. SHIELD got all the intel they thought they could get out of him and didn’t need him anymore. When Steve found out that SHIELD had Bucky he went ballistic. He pulled every string he had, to get in there and be part of the process. To keep Bucky from being dragged through the mud when Steve knew Bucky had been through enough. Steve begged Tony to get involved. Both Captain America, and Iron-Man requested a personal favor from the President. In the end, Bucky wouldn’t get a hero’s welcome, but he wouldn’t go to trial.

Steve was working himself up, he knew the anger was building. The more he hit the bag, the more he thought about all of the ways he felt like he had been betrayed. He had turned a lot of that on Bucky. He realized, it was wrong. 

He hated that Bucky turned himself in to Fury. Bucky still deferred to Fury. If Fury entered a room, Bucky stood. If an order looked like it possibly came from Fury, Bucky would carry it out. Even if it meant cutting off his own arm. He would just do it, no questions asked. Steve was sure of it, and he seethed.

Steve had the gym to himself, he liked to work out at night. It was quiet except for the noise Steve himself made. Finally, he wanted a drink, he had taken his rage out on the equipment for the past two hours. When he turned toward his bag to get a bottle, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. In the far side of the room Bucky was doing some sort of acrobatic balancing stance upside down on one arm. Bucky remained in position for about two minutes, then slowly slid into another. 

Steve pulled out his bottle of water, and chugged it down watching Bucky. He had never seen Bucky in here before. He probably normally did this strange balancing act in his room. Steve wondered what brought him out now. 

Walking over to Bucky, Steve watched him effortlessly slip into another position. Steve tried to act casual “I haven’t seen you out here before.”

Glancing up from his position, Bucky asked “Do you want me to leave? You seemed to be pretty ticked about something.” His feet lowered down heavily and thumped to the ground. He then stood with his arms crossed, a challenging stance.

It had already gone downhill. Steve had set up the initial anger, and now Bucky expected it to be directed at him every time. Steve sagged, “You don’t have to leave. That’s not why I came over here. I was just making conversation.” Steve shook his head “Where’d you learn to balance like that?”

Shrugging, Bucky said “Who knows” then turned to get his own water. His back was to Steve. Steve guessed this conversation was over.

Turning away, Steve walked over to his bag, and packed everything back up. He shouldered the bag. Then, before he chickened out, he looked back and asked “Why did you turn yourself in to Fury?”

Bucky had his back to Steve, and turned to face him. His frown looked more puzzled than angry, “I don’t know? Where else would I go?”

A lump formed in Steve’s throat and he didn’t know if he could answer. Steve just nodded and shrugged, then turned to walk out of the gym. Once he got back in his room, he threw the bag into a corner and flopped onto his bed face first. Once this mission was completed he was heading back to New York. He would hole up there, be a coward and leave this. Maybe Bucky would be better off if Steve’s anger wasn’t poisoning the atmosphere. Let Bucky breathe.


	3. Chapter 3

The command center was busy planning their next assault. Agent Jones was in charge and he was dissecting the newest HYDRA intel with a room full of analysts. When Steve joined them, he found they were thrilled with what he brought back from the latest assault. Lots of names, places, and even the location of another base. The newly discovered base had better security than the last four bases combined. They must be hiding something big. 

When there was a break, Steve was able to get Agent Jones to himself for a minute. 

Steve smiled “Looks like we got something good.”

Agent Jones beamed back “Sure does. You guys hit a homerun with this one. We might do some major damage to HYDRA when we destroy this next base.”

Steve tried to hold his smile “Yeah. Well, I’ve been thinking, I might head back to New York for a while after this next assault. You guys should have some breathing room for a little while at least.”

The smile on Jones faltered for a second but then he smiled wider, “Sure, that would be fine. You could head out sooner if you wanted. We have Hawkeye lined up for this next mission.”

Steve’s smile slipped, he tried to pretend to smile, but it still turned into a frown. “Oh. Barton is back?”

“Flew in last night. He’s already been briefed, and is getting his gear prepped right now.” Jones practically beamed.

Steve fumed “Is Bucky up for this too? What about his leg?”

“Doc said the leg is all healed up. Big base like this, two sharpshooters can do a lot of damage. It’s good to let Barnes loose every now and then. Let him show what kind of damage he can do. He was made for this kind of mission.” One of the technicians put a new detailed map on the large wall screen and Jones went to look at it.

Steve stepped back. “He was made for…” he grumbled as he left.

Returning to his room, Steve began to throw things into his duffel. His motorcycle was in the garage of the base. He could leave right now if he felt like it. But, he didn’t like this. It felt wrong leaving before Bucky came back. He would tell him to his face when he got back from the mission.

Steve went to see them off, but the mission team had already loaded onto the three quintets. Hawkeye was on the one with Bucky. He sat across from Bucky along with the rest of the team in the quinjet. Bucky was alone on his side of the jet, like always. Bucky made them nervous. Steve could see the team was going to follow Hawkeye. He just had to trust Clint to keep an eye out for Bucky. Not that he really needed anyone to watch out for him, but it made Steve feel better. Right before the jet lifted off, Steve saw Clint lean forward and say “Bet ya a case of beer I can take out fifty of those bastards first.”

Roaring drowned out the rest of the conversation as the jet revved it’s engines, then took off. Steve wondered what Bucky said back to Barton, if anything. He stood on the tarmac until the jets were just dots on the horizon, then went back inside.

Suddenly exhausted, Steve made his way back to his room. He hadn’t slept the night before, too busy planning his escape in his mind. He spent hours trying to figure out what he would say to Jones. Turns out he wasn’t even wanted on this mission. Once in his room Steve lie down to get some sleep. He would head out when the team returned.

An hour went by, and Steve tossed and turned. He wanted to fix this thing with Bucky, not run away. A million things kept running through his mind. Clint was talking about getting beer with Bucky. How often had that happened lately with Steve. Maybe Bucky needed time to bond with the guys. Become part of the team. 

Realizing he wasn’t getting any sleep, Steve gave up and hit the gym for a few hours. When he finally wore himself out, he took a shower and hit the sack. He had just drifted off when there was banging on his door. “Captain Rogers! Captain!” Steve jumped up, opening the door. A harried looking Agent was on the other side. “Sir, the mission was a trap. They’re regrouping and need your assistance.”

The Agent wasn’t finished with his first sentence before Steve was halfway down the hall.

He burst into the Command Center, “Team status!” he yelled. Jones looked up, Steve’s heart sunk. Jones looked confused, he stammered “They.. We.. Barnes was captured.” This was the last thing Steve expected. Jones continued “It was a trap to get Barnes back. The data is coming in now. The teams have lifted off and are..” 

Steve cut in “Lifted off? They left him? He’s alive, and you let HYDRA have him back?” Steve loomed over Jones who looked guilty. 

Jones kept looking away, towards the screens, “The call came from higher up. When Hawkeye sent the transmission that things went south.. and they took Barnes, we sent word to higher. They said, ‘immediate evac of all Agents’. Hawkeye didn‘t want to leave, but ..”

Steve was shaking his head. One of the tech’s called out “Sir, Sir, I have the feed downloaded.”

There were cameras throughout the HYDRA base. Minutes after the assault began, one of the assault team members hacked into the feed. The assault was caught on camera. 

Jones called out “Put it on screen!” and the big screens filled with different angles of grainy security footage. The images start before the assault. Inside the warehouse, HYDRA goons were moving boxes, joking, and counting weapons. Outside, goons were standing guard, and a truck was backing to the warehouse door to unload a large crate. After a minute the guards began dropping, arrows protruding from their chests. Another feed showed a different angle and more guards dropped, as a figure in Black jumped up to a fire escape ladder and climbed onto the roof. Another angle showed the figure in black drop from a skylight into the warehouse. Hawkeye’s team then entered the warehouse from the loading bay door. Soon, lights were flashing, as security alarms went off. Armed HYDRA goons began to swarm as they realized they were under attack. They dropped like flies in the open warehouse. Clint and Bucky were the right choices for this mission. 

Steve’s stomach was in a knot. It wasn’t a worry of ‘if’ Bucky’s going to make it out okay, instead it was ‘when’ the goons would overrun his position. It wasn’t long before Bucky had taken out dozens of HYDRA goons. Bodies had begun to pile up near doorways. Changing position, Bucky began moving steadily through them, a deadly killing machine as he approached his objective.

The rest of the Assault team was in formation with Clint. Eventually, Barton’s team was on one side of the huge warehouse, and Barnes was on the other. There were vehicles, stacked crates and bodies everywhere. 

As Bucky came around a stack of crates, a man in a gray suit stepped from a doorway directly in front of Bucky. Rifle at the ready, Bucky turned to fire, but the man said something. On the soundless grainy screen, they saw the man’s lips move, then Bucky crumpled. 

Gray suit walked up to Bucky, he showed no fear of the Winter Soldier at his feet. He picked up Bucky’s weapon, examined it, and handed it to a thug. Then he knelt, grabbed Bucky by the hair and leaned down to say something to him. The camera could not see the man’s face when he spoke, he smiled when he stood. Two goons hauled Bucky away, carrying him between them, his arms slung over their shoulders. As they turned to go down the hall, Steve could see that Bucky’s eyes were half open. He might be aware. Definitely aware, Steve thought, otherwise the guy in the suit wouldn’t have spoken to him.

More footage played out. Two large crates in the middle of the warehouse lit up from inside. Light pouring from between the slats of wood. Then a flood of well armed HYDRA goons streamed out of a hidden door on the side. The trap was sprung. The crates were just covering stairwells in the warehouse floor. Skilled HYDRA combat teams with energy weapons pushed Clint’s men back, vaporizing two before they had even realized the situation had changed. The SHIELD team was about to be overrun, and retreated.

In the Command Center, Jones told the techs to get heat signatures on anything departing the location. Steve just stood in the middle of this chaos when Barton rushed into the room. 

“Steve, I’m so sorry. They came out of the woodwork. We tried to get to him, but then they were just gone. It was all a trap.” Barton looked terrible, and Steve should have had pity on him. He just lost members of his team. But, Steve was still stunned. 

The screens around Steve had changed to Maps. Red, blue and green dots speckled the maps. Steve knew what the colors meant, but it still looked like Greek. He needed to get his head on straight. He was no good to Bucky like this. He took a deep breath and walked over to one of the techs. He looked over the tech’s shoulder, watching the screen as he was analyzing heat signatures in the area. Eventually, Steve straightened and left the room, Clint followed. 

Barton leaned back against the wall. Steve turned and looked at him “This is not your fault. HYDRA set us up. They were ready for Bucky. Our intel lead him right to that spot. That guy in the suit was waiting.” 

“Now we need to get our heads together. HYDRA has fucked with the wrong team.” Steve turned and went into a Commo room. He got Stark on a secure line, and told him to tell the congressional investigators to go to hell. 

Tony said he would bring Bruce who was already in the tower, and reroute Sam who was on his way to New York anyways. Thor was still in Asgard, and Natasha was out of the loop in Eastern Europe. Tony said he would try to get word to her any ways. The available Avengers would be at the base in less than an hour. 

Returning to his room, Steve geared up. He would be ready when the team arrived. He knew until SHIELD had a location, Bucky would be moving further and further away. Steve worried they could hide Bucky away in Cryo, just a crate to be hidden in with millions of others. Or, they could just put him in the chair again, make him forget the past year since the Hellicarriers. All that Bucky had gained back would be lost. 

Steve needed to get busy before his imagination ran away from him. The ‘what if’ game was killing him. He returned to the command room. The same maps were on the big screens, little had changed. 

Steve went out into the hall, he would wait in Jones’ office. He needed to think. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Hill and Fury in the room. 

Looking around for Jones, Steve realized this might be bigger than he thought.

Fury and Hill looked up when Steve entered. Fury said “I hear you have some friends on the way.” 

Steve straightened “Nat and Thor are out of the loop, but Yeah, I put a call out.”

Fury handed Hill a paper and said “Good. We need the Avengers. Widow gave us the intel that HYDRA wanted to get their property back, and more. Get themselves a matching set.”

‘He’s not property.” Steve barked. He couldn’t help himself. 

Fury went over to another monitor with a map. “Property or not, I was smart enough to chip the big guy before we sent him in the field. Now, we just wait to see where they are taking him.”

Steve could see a single red dot moving across the map. “Wait?? We have to get him now. Before they have a chance to take his memory.” Steve wanted to scream about the fact that they have a tracking device in Bucky, but this was not the time.

“Did you not hear what I said about them wanting a matching set?” Fury stood in front of Steve “That meant you. They want you. You can’t just walk in there…”

“We are the Avengers and we will get him back. I leave no man behind.” Steve said.

Fury shook his head “You are hard headed. We’re waiting until they lead us to the Big Fish. Barnes is a small sacrifice if we can take down ..”

Steve felt his blood boil “You knew that this was going to happen. You knew, and you let them take him.”

Hill at least had the courtesy to look away. Fury just stared back at Steve. Bucky was just property to this guy, a pawn to be lost in favor of capturing a better game piece.

In the hall Steve could hear that Tony had arrived. He opened the door, and in came Tony, Bruce and Sam. On the way in, Tony handed Steve his shield. “I found this on one of my test flights.”

Steve smiled, “Thanks Tony.” 

“I never know what kind of things I’ll come across.” Tony said.

Steve noticed that Clint was hanging back in the hallway, unsure of whether he was welcome or not. 

Steve poked his head in the hall “Barton, we don’t have all day.” he said and Clint hurried into the room .

The room wasn’t small, but once there were seven people inside, Fury said “Let’s take this to the conference room.”

“Hold on a minute.” Tony said “We can go in there after I find what you are hiding in here.” He had already plugged a device into the computer on Jones’ desk. “Well Hawkeye, this data would have been useful to you before your mission.” he said pointing to charts and schematics that popped up on the screen.

Clint paled and looked at Fury who shrugged. After a few seconds Tony announced, “Okay, all of the relevant secrets in this room are tapped. We can hit the conference room now.”

Steve led the way to the conference room. In the time it took to get the team assembled and briefed, it looked like Bucky was no longer being moved. Quickly, they came up with a reasonable plan to bust out Bucky. Fury still wanted to wait. He was definitely against Steve going on this mission. Steve bluntly told him no one was going to stop him from going. 

While they were in the air, Natasha was able to get word to Clint about the release command. The word the HYDRA goon used on Bucky was a control word. Incase the asset became uncontrollable, it just shut him down. All muscles became limp, but he was still aware. They also had a reset, once he was in a position to be released. 

Sure enough when they got there it was a trap. Natasha’s intel proved invaluable, and gave them the upper hand. The HYDRA agents may have been ready, but they were still no match for the Avengers.

Soon, Steve found Bucky laid out on a table. He was surprised that Bucky wasn’t even strapped down. Just lying there staring at the ceiling. When Steve came in Bucky moaned. Steve leaned over Bucky and said the release command. Natasha warned Steve that the after Bucky was released, it might take a few minutes for him to recover. As Steve was checking Bucky for injuries Bucky kept whispering “go, go, go…trap. Please go.”

Steve just said “We knew it was a trap. It’s okay I brought friends.” 

“Why are you so stupid?” Bucky groaned

Steve just shrugged, then helped him off of the table. Still weak and wobbly, Steve almost had to carry Bucky out of there, and into the waiting quinjet.

On the ride back, Bucky looked tired and twitchy. Steve sat next to him as the field medic checked him over. Any time the medic tried to touch Bucky he flinched back. The medic tried to give Bucky a lot more space and warning after Bucky shoved him back hard with his metal hand. It was going to leave a bruise. This was his first violent slip in months. The hours where he was not in control of his body had obviously brought up a lot of bad memories. The fact that he was going back to HYDRA must have also been more than a little terrifying. 

After the field medic had finished, they rode in silence. Bucky just stared blankly in front of him. Steve hoped Bucky was comforted by him being there. He worried Bucky just wanted Steve to leave him alone. At one point in the flight, the quinjet shuddered from turbulence and Bucky looked over at Steve with wide eyes. Steve put his hand on Bucky’s arm. Taking a deep breath Bucky closed his eyes and tipped his head back. Steve kept his hand on Bucky’s arm the rest of the flight, neither of them moving until the jet landed.

As soon as they returned to base Bucky was immediately given a full exam. Steve offered to give Bucky space and let him see the doctors by himself. Surprisingly, Bucky frowned. Steve then asked if he wanted him to stay and Bucky gave a single nod. Silently, they sat side by side while doctors examined Bucky, who blankly stared through them.

After the exhausting exam, he was moved into a private room in the medical wing. His hands trembled as he lie back on the bed. He kept making them into fists or fidgeted with the blanket to hide the shaking. Steve sat in his chair and pretended not to notice. 

The medial technicians usually gave Bucky a lot of space. Aggression and violence was sometimes the way Bucky showed his anxiety. The techs were used to it. They had a special room set up for him when he was in medical. 

Eventually, they were finished and told him to get some rest. Steve also settled back ready to take a nap. 

“You know you have your own room down the hall.” Bucky said.

Steve opened one eye and looked at Bucky “I know.”

“I hear it’s much better than the crap rooms they put me in.”

Steve smiled “Yup. I even have a TV.”

A new nurse came into the room standing about three feet form the foot of the bed. They both looked over. She said “Hi, I’m Sarah. Agent Sarah George. My shift is just starting.” Steve smiled and Bucky frowned “I’m going to take some scans from over here. Is that okay?” She held up a handheld unit. Bucky’s eyes flickered over to Steve, then he nodded yes in a quick jerky movement.

Bucky’s eyes never left the scanner. After she left, the tension drained out of him. Bucky took a big deep breath, and rolled onto his side. He was facing Steve. “Why are you here?” he asked.

Steve shrugged, “Gotta sleep somewhere.”

They both slept for hours. Steve dozed, occasionally waking and checking on Bucky. Bucky slept like the dead, except when the nurse came in, then he was instantly alert until she left.

By the next afternoon, Steve had commandeered a TV from the nearby break room, and set it up in Bucky’s room in the medical wing. The whole time he was moving it and plugging it in, Bucky groused .“You do know that in a few hours I’ll be in my own room.”

From behind the TV, Steve said “The game is on now. When we move, we’ll just take this TV to your room.”

Bucky kept up the deep unhappy frown till the game started, then it kind of melted away to the neutral frown. They both watched the game in silence until a nurse came in to do one last scan and tell him he was cleared to go back to his room. They stayed in the medical room till halftime, when they took the TV with them back to Bucky’s room.

Steve made Bucky rest while he did all of the plugging and unplugging. Bucky grumbled “We could get back to watching the game faster if you let me do it.” Steve actually hooked up the TV pretty quickly, and they were back to watching halftime commercials in no time.

By the time the game ended, Steve had settled into his chair. He looked over at Bucky who had finally relaxed, and his neutral frown had melted away. Bucky glanced at Steve, and Steve said “I’m going back to New York. To my apartment in Avengers Tower.”

Bucky swallowed and the frown came back. After a pause he said “Oh. Sure.” 

Steve looked at the floor for a few seconds before looking up. “Do you want to come too? Tony said he could set you up with an apartment.”

Bucky added a forehead crinkle to the frown “What?”

“Avengers Tower, in Manhattan. We could go visit Brooklyn. I haven’t been back in a while. It would be fun.”

Bucky didn’t look convinced “What would I do there? I.. I’m useful here.”

Steve smiled “We could always use more Avengers. I think you would fit right in.”

They both stared at each other for a while. Steve’s smile started to slip. Bucky’s frown stayed firmly in place. Finally, Bucky broke the standoff. “ I wouldn’t fit in. I hear they’re a bunch of weirdo’s.”

Steve’s smile fell “Oh.. Does that mean you don’t want to go?”

Bucky returned to the neutral frown “The news said you let aliens smash up Manhattan. I could look into better ways to defend the city. Help you have a plan ready for the next time.”

Steve smiled “That’d be great. We could sure use the help.”

“Don’t you know it.” Bucky said, and rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, the frown was gone as he drifted back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a tumblr if you're curious. It's stickypostbasement.tumblr.com My brain is 99% consumed with Marvel comics and Marvel movies and that is what you will find there too.


End file.
